Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on Saturday ahead of a four-way Syria summit.

The summit on Syria, hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will see the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN special Syria envoy, will also attend the summit.

During the summit, the leaders will address the Syrian conflict in all its aspects, focusing on the situation on the ground, the Idlib agreement, and the political process, and harmonizing joint efforts to find a lasting solution to the conflict.

The leaders will also discuss the Sept. 17 agreement between Ankara and Moscow to establish a demilitarized zone in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) will provide a space in Germany for the exchange of experiences in the field over the next few days, the organization informed on its website.

Starting tomorrow, and until next Friday, IRENA foresees the celebration of the so-called Innovation Week 2018 in the German city of Bonn, an event that will bring together about 250 leading, innovative and political companies of the entire membership of that entity with headquarters in Abu Dhabi, according to the report.

The event, whose last edition was held in 2016, seeks to explore how innovations in enabling technologies, business models, system operations and sector linkage can accelerate the transition towards renewable energy matrices.

According to the report, the attending political leaders will have the opportunity to learn from their counterparts and innovative leaders about the state and the possibilities arising from emerging creations.

According to IRENA, the renewable energy sector is undergoing transformative changes, such as the increasing digitization of systems and the greater decentralization of electricity supply.

Activists from the German Network of Solidarity with Cuba, an alliance of dozens of organizations, have highlighted today the positive outcome of their annual youth conference.

Stephanie Remus, the organizer of the event, stressed in an interview with Prensa Latina that 'among the issues of this exchange were the unjust blockade of the United States against Cuba and the situation of the youth'.

Under the slogan 'Cuba after the elections, our solidarity continues', dozens of participants debated for two days at the forum, which had among its aims the dialogue with young Germans, to integrate them into the solidarity movement with the Caribbean nation, she added.

Remus also highlighted the depth of the analysis during this weekend's meeting in Bonn, the second of its kind, which included Cuban Congresswoman Yenisey Cruz Carreño among its guests.

According to the source, the 30-year-old legislator, a representative of the youth of Cuba, "explained the current debate on the constitutional draft in Cuba'.

Joerg Rueckmann, from the organization Cuba Sí, explained the Cuban electoral system to the young people present, while other activists presented solidarity projects with Venezuela and other nations.

The conference also dealt with current issues, such as the rise of the extreme right in Germany.

At the end of the meeting, Cruz Carreño and the head of the Cuban diplomatic office in Bonn, Yamari Perez Viera, answered questions from participants.

The Network of Solidarity with Cuba announced it plans to organize the third youth conference next year.

Spain's Supreme Court said on Thursday it had decided to decline the extradition of former Catalan regional leader Carles Puigdemont from Germany on the charge of misuse of public funds linked to his organization of a banned referendum on independence.

A German court ruled one week ago that Puigdemont could be extradited for alleged misuse of public funds but it rejected a request to send him back to answer a more serious charge of rebellion.

Former Catalan minister Clara Ponsati's lawyer welcomed a Spanish court's decision to withdraw European Arrest Warrants against Catalan politicians, but said it was unclear whether they would be allowed back.

Spain's Supreme Court has also said that it had withdrawn European Arrest Warrants for politicians linked to the organization of a Catalan independence referendum last October.

Former education minister Ponsati, 61, a professor at Scotland's University of St Andrews, is one of several leaders of Catalonia's regional government being sought by Spain. "It's excellent news, with regards to my client Clara Ponsati, and obviously for Puigdemont... but we tread cautiously," Aamer Anwar told Reuters by phone.

"The question that arises is whether the Spanish government are willing to allow Mr Puigdemont to simply return back to Catalonia and declare independence... I suspect not."

German police officials are reporting that at least 25 people have been injured after an explosion ripped through a building in the city of Wuppertal.

"It can currently not be ruled out that there are still other people in the building. The rescue efforts are ongoing," the police release said.

Police reports say the area where the explosion took place has been evacuated, however, the cause of the blast remains unknown and is being investigated.

Fires broke out in several sections of the housing unit resulting in the structure collapsing which made it difficult for firefighters to extinguish the blaze.

Emergency services were tasked with attempting to stabilize the building to prevent it from falling down. Several persons managed to escape the ill-fated structure without aid while others were assisted by rescue service.

Serbia were the better side, but their midfielder Nemanja Matic was involved in an ugly confrontation with a Costa Rica coach in injury time as the Manchester United player tried to get the ball back when it went out of play.

Sweden will play South Korea tomorrow at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in the second match in Group F.

Two matches are also scheduled in Group G.

Belgium will play Panama at Sochi's Fisht Olympic Stadium before Tunisia and 1966 World Cup winners England meet at the Volgograd Arena.

A delegation of the Cuban Food Industry Ministry is promoting a set of opportunities for investments in foods in Germany, diplomatic sources said here Thursday.

Yanoski Calderín González, Cuban Vice Minister in the sector, is heading a Cuban group taking part in the 2018 Foottech International Foods and Beverages Fair in the German city of Cologne from March 20 to 23.

Calderin Gonzalez met Germany's expert German Jeub -general director for Policies with the European Union (EU), International Cooperation and Fishing- at the host building of the German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture.

At the meeting Calderin and Jeub exchanged information on the Cuban National Economic and Social Development of Cuba until 2030 for the food production sector and other bilateral interesting topics.

Calderin and the Cuban delegation formed by Jesus Rodriguez Mendoza, first vice president of the Cuban Food Industry Entrepreneur Group, and Raul Castañedo Avila, director of Cuban company Alimpex met other German officials, visited factories and had meetings with German food production companies.

Portugal's Alexandre Nobre won the 2018 Havana International Triathlon with a time of 1:50:23, trailed by his teammate and compatriot Manuel Arraiolos.

In the women's division, Germany's Anabel Knoll won, with Cuba's Leslie Amat coming in second and Brazil's Vittoria Lopes in third.

The annual competition, which takes place under the auspices of the International Triathlon Federation and awards points for the world ranking, began with the 1,500-meter swimming competition at the Marina Hemingway, west of the capital.

At the start, Nobre and Arraiolos were not in the lead, but managed to catch up in the 40-kilometer bike ride through the city and along Havana's emblematic seaside promenade.

It was not until the 10-kilometer sprint that the Portuguese teammates separated from the rest of the competitors.

"It was a difficult race because of the hot weather, but we had trained well and came in strong to win the race. We made a great team effort and it has been very good," Nobre told the press later.

In third place was Canadian John Rasmussen.

Cuba's triathlon is a fairly new circuit, but it has become one of the most competitive in the region.

In this edition's men's elite category, 20 triathletes from 12 countries and regions participated, while in the women's race, nine competitors from six countries participated.

In all, more than 450 athletes from 35 countries and regions participated in the different races that took place over the weekend.

On the first day of the Havana Triathlon on Saturday, Cuba's Michel Gonzalez won the Ibero-American Middle Distance Championship for the second year in a row.

Gonzalez came in first with a time of 4:03:50, well ahead of his closest competitors, Mexican Leonardo Saucedo and Cuban Ramon Alberich (4:38:07).

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In Sancti Spiritus People also Shouted ´I am Fidel´

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Cubasí.cu interviewed translator Aracelia del Valle from Escambray website on people’s reaction for the journey of the caravan carrying the remains of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro to Santiago de Cuba.